U-20 FOOTBALL
Morocco unveils list to face Nigeria, Tunisia at U20 AFCON
Morocco, drawn in the same Group B of the Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations with Nigeria, Tunisia and Kenya, has unveiled their squad.
The coach, Mohamed Ouahbi, has listed 26 players for the tournament in Egypt from April 27 to May 18. The squad features a blend of domestic talents and overseas-based players, including Stade Rennais defender Abdelhamid Ait Boudlal and FC Twente centre-back Julien Misbahi. Union Touarga striker Mouad Dahhak, who has impressed this season in Botola Pro 1, also earns a call-up.
Here is the list of selected players:
Goalkeepers: Yanis Benchaouch (AS Monaco/France), Ibrahim Gomis (Olympique de Marseille/France) and Abdelhakim Mesbahi (AS FAR).
Defenders: Abdelhamid Aït Boudlal (Amiens SC/France), Smail Bakhty (Sturm Graz/Austria), Ismael Baouf (Anderlecht/Belgium), Issa Habri (Stade Rennes/France), Ahmed Khatir (SK Beveren/Belgium), Hamza Koutoune (OGC Nice/France), Julien Mesbahi (FC Twente/Netherlands) and Fouad Zahouani (Union Touarga).
Midfielders: Ismaël Aouad (RC Lens/France), Amine Boukamir (Charleroi SC/Belgium), Anass El Makkaoui (FUS Rabat), Naoufel El Hannach (PSG/France), Houssam Essadak (Union Touarga), Reda Laalaoui (FUS Rabat) and Saad El Haddad (Venezia FC/Italy).
Forwards: Ayman Erguigue (SD Huesca/Spain), Adam El Mokhtari (Elche/Spain), Ilias Boumassaoudi (FC Den Bosch/Netherlands), Mouad Dahak (Union Touarga), Jones Abdellaoui (RC Celta Vigo/Spain), Adnane Kharroubi (SM Caen/France), Othmane Maama (Montpellier/France), Mohamed Yassir Zabiri (Famalicao/Portugal).
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With the dropping out of Cote d’Ivoire, as both hosts and participants in the CAF U20 Africa Cup of Nations, now rescheduled for Egypt, a new draw will hold this Sunday.
The tournament will be staged from 27 April to 18 May, 2025.
The 13 teams will be split into three pools, Group A with five teams, and Groups B and C with four. The top two nations in each pool advance to the quarterfinals, along with the two best third-placed sides.
In the previous draw conducted in February, Egypt was placed in Group B alongside Nigeria, Morocco, and South Africa, which was aptly described as the ‘Group of Death’.
Traditionally, the host and automatic qualifiers are put in Group A. With Côte d’Ivoire vacating that position, Egypt is likely to move to Group A, while replacements for Côte d’Ivoire, such as Tunisia, will move to Group B in place of Egypt.
CAF wants the revised groups to reflect the tournament’s new structure and hosting arrangement.
The top four teams will qualify for the FIFA U20 World Cup in Chile, which runs from 27 September to 19 October.
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Following the sudden withdrawal of Cote d’Ivoire as hosts of the Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations, CAF has now moved the competition to Egypt.
The Confederation of African Football announced that it had been informed by the Fédération Ivoirienne de Football (FIF) and the Government of Côte d’Ivoire that due to unforeseen circumstances, they are unable to host the competition.
The Egyptian Football Association and the Egyptian Government had previously submitted a bid to host the CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations 2025.
The opening match of the competition will be played on Sunday, 27 April 2025 and the Final on 18 May 2025.
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With the 2025 Africa U20 Nations Cup kicking off in a few weeks in Cote d’Ivoire, seven-time African champions, Flying Eagles of Nigeria will open their campaign with an opening match with Egypt at the 20,000-capacity Amadou Gon Coulibaly stadium in Korhogo.
The encounter is billed to kick off at 5 pm Cote d’Ivoire time (6 pm Nigeria time).
The Flying will next take on Morocco’s Young Atlas Lions at the same venue, starting at 8 pm local time (9 pm Nigeria time) on Saturday, 3rd May.
Nigeria, who qualified for the finals following a successful defence of their WAFU B U20 Championship title in Lome in October 2024, will then wrap up their group B campaign with a session against South Africa, also in Korhogo on Tuesday, 6t May, starting from 5 pm local time (6 pm Nigeria time).
The Flying Eagles, quarterfinalists of the last edition of the FIFA U20 World Cup in Argentina in 2023, are currently camping in Katsina, courtesy of the State Government, in the first phase of their final preparations for the continental championship.
A semi-final spot in Côte d’Ivoire will guarantee the Eagles a spot in this year’s FIFA U20 World Cup finals in Chile, 27th September – 19th October.
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